G-Fafif

METS ALL-TIME HIT LEADERS Through 6/18/2011 1. Ed Kranepool 1,418 2. JOSE REYES 1,221 3. Cleon Jones 1,188 4. DAVID WRIGHT 1,182

Pelfrey 5.0 Beltran 4.0 Reyes 0.5 Bay 0.5

Tom Seaver: High enough. Tom Seaver says Mets fans should cheer for Derek Jeter if the Yankee captain gets his 3,000th hit at Citi Field. Jeter, currently on the DL with a calf injury, is six hits shy of 3,000. He is eligible to come off of the disabled list on June 29. His third game after coming off the DL will be at CIti Field, the first of a three-game Subway Series against the Mets. Seaver, who received an ovation from the crowd at Yankee Stadium after his 300th win, said Mets fans should give Jeter his due if he gets hit No. 3,000 at Citi. "You�re talking about the history of the game," Seaver said on Saturday. "Not an opposing player. It's a historical moment in the game of baseball. There's a point in time when it becomes more than your team or their team. It's a piece of history. This is a piece of history and respect for a guy that has earned it and earned it with class." Seaver still remembers the loud cheers before and after his 300th win -- which came on August 4, 1985 when he was a member of the White Sox. The crowd that day contained a large contingent of Met fans. Should Jeter hear the same if he gets his 3,000th knock at Citi Field? "Absolutely," Seaver said. I wouldn't expect Seaver to say different, and that's fine, I guess. But this is all moot anyway. If Jeter makes the entire stadium better by getting his 3,000th hit, it's not like he's going to be doing it front of 42,000 Mets fans. MFY fans always find their way in to Subway Series games and I would expect an even more disproportionate amount this time around. The 300th win at MFYS II is a little bit of false equivalency since until 1984, Seaver never faced the MFYs and had no history of making MFY lives miserable except, perhaps, by proxy if MFY fans were prone to looking at his and the Mets' successes when they were down as something that ruined their lives in an ancillary fashion. Sudden, horrible thought. As opposed to Jeter's theoretical 3,000th hit at Citi Field coming in some innocuous fashion in the third inning or whatever, what if it's the three-run double in the top of the ninth that puts the MFYs ahead 4-2? Is that supposed to be worthy of Mets fans' applause? If it was, say, Ichiro doing it in those circumstances, I wouldn't feel compelled to stand and respect "the history of the game". Hope that calf needs an extra week to heal.

Gary just took sly dig at John Sterling. "Does he have a writer? He's so creative."

Dan Haren -- not as good as previously reported.

Meanwhile, more good news. Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter was rushed to the emergency room on Thursday night after experiencing a "serious coughing attack" and having "shooting pains in his back," his daughter, Kimmy Bloemers, wrote on a private family website Friday. Carter had blood drawn and underwent X-rays and a CT scan on his chest and back, which revealed that he had come down with a case of bronchitis. Carter left the hospital early Friday morning and returned home to rest. According to Bloemers, there was speculation that Carter might have blood clotting or pneumonia. But those fears were eased when the results showed that he had something less substantial. "What a huge praise that it is not as serious as it could have been," Bloemers wrote. "However because of dad's condition, a chest cold can drain dad's energy more. The sweet nurse said that everything looked great, which was a relief." Carter, who is in a battle with Stage 4 brain cancer, underwent his second Avastin treatment on Friday, Bloemers wrote. According to the drug's website, Avastin's purpose is to prevent the growth of blood vessels that feed tumors. Carter is also in the process of undergoing 6� weeks of radiation treatment and a year of chemotherapy. "It was a bummer that dad had to get poked again for the Avastin treatment," Bloemers wrote. "No fun but we know it is important!" Carter began to experience symptoms of a chest cold on Wednesday. He was about to begin walking with his wife, but started coughing, which prompted the trip to the ER. "It has not been easy to see my dad go through tough times," Bloemers wrote. "He is one of the most independent, fun-loving people I have ever known. He has always taken care of the family! Throughout these four weeks, dad mentions how he doesn't want to be an inconvenience to anyone. Even if he is having a hard day, he 'checks in' with each family member to make sure everyone is doing okay. His heart is good... so loving and so caring. Did I mention how proud I am to be his daughter?? "Each one of us are proud of dad. He is a good man with a great heart." During Friday's game against the Angels, the Mets placed a huge get-well card for Carter in the Jackie Robinson Rotunda at Citi Field so fans can sign it before it is sent to the Hall of Fame catcher. Carter began his cancer treatment at the beginning of June. The 57-year-old had just completed his second season as Palm Beach Atlantic University's baseball coach, when he announced that an MRI taken on May 21 had revealed four small tumors on his brain. Carter, who was a vital cog on the New York Mets 1986 World Series championship team, was inducted into Cooperstown in 2003. He retired in 1992 with the Montreal Expos, finishing his 19-year career with a .262 batting average, 324 home runs and 1,225 RBIs. He also played in 11 All-Star games.

Haren scare 'em, with... Jose Reyes SS Justin Turner 2B Carlos Beltran RF Daniel Murphy 3B Angel Pagan CF Jason Bay LF Lucas Duda 1B Ronny Paulino C Mike Pelfrey P

Every game I've been to thus far since the news (several), the Mets play a tribute on the video board to Carter. Always gets a big response. Twice I've heard such a chant go up and remain sustained shortly thereafter.

Capuano 2.5 Paulino 2.0 Pagan 1.5 Bay 0.5 Reyes 0.5 Turner 0.5 Acosta 0.5

Friday I've got my Recap on my mind... 064 -- 1982: Keith Hernandez and Mike Scott in strange uniforms 065 -- 2006: The Mets travel well. 066 -- 1990: Another day, another win. Right behind them... 064 -- 1999: Mets eat or perhaps inject their Wheaties. 065 -- 1962: A one-hitter? How novel! 066 -- 1977: The Steve Henderson trade pays almost immediate dividends.

Adam Rubin does these fantastic, detailed reports on the teams we play, and he came through again for this weekend. Click on it here if you want to get straight to the inside scoop on Alberto Callaspo, Peter Bourjos and Mark Trumbo. Me, I prefer to be surprised when we see an opponent the Mets haven�t played in three years. I chose the Angels to KTE for sentimental reasons. The Angels are my favorite American League team, though I guess I should be more specific. The 2002 Anaheim Angels are my favorite American League team ever, and that happened pretty late in the game. I haven�t really remained up to speed with my affection in franchise terms since it stopped being 2002 and they stopped being the Anaheim Angels, but I�ll always look at them in whatever guise, whatever year and see October 2002, the month they became my Angels. They came back on the MFYs after losing Game One of the ALDS despite being informed that down 1-0, you can�t possibly win as the visitor at MFYS II. With the series tied at one, and lineups being announced for Game Three, Mrs. Fafif warmed my heart no end when she asked, �You know why I hate the Yankees?� It doesn�t matter what the reason was. It was that she volunteered true MFY hatred from the perspective of someone who�d been mostly along for the ride in terms of baseball hostility. We�d been married almost eleven years at that point, but it was like I was on my honeymoon all over again. The Angels pound the MFYs silly in Game Three. We meet the ThunderStix. We meet the Rally Monkey. We love it all. And then, Game Four, our reigning cat Bernie meets our kitten Hozzie. Following the wisdom that you don�t spring a new pet on an old pet, we had been harboring young Hozzie in the bathroom for close to two weeks. Game Four, a Saturday, we let them interact. And little Hozzie was all over big Bernie like Hop on Pop. Bernie let him (for a while, anyway). Success! And together, the four of us watched our beautiful Angels eliminate the hated (universally) MFYs in four games. Next came the Twins, whom I had nothing against, and even had something for when Rick Reed was pitching, but the Angels were on an offensive high and could not be stopped. Adam Kennedy hit three home runs in the clincher. I was head over heels for Adam Kennedy. And David Eckstein. And Garret Anderson. And Troy Glaus. And Darrin Erstad. And Tim Salmon. And Chone Figgins. And young Francisco �K-Rod� Rodriguez. And so on (ex-Mets on the 2002 postseason Angels: Kevin Appier, Alex Ochoa; future Mets: Scott Schoeneweis, K-Rod). I was so psyched that the Angels won their pennant at last. I wanted them to win it in �86, but not that much and not to the point where I was paying much attention. Now I was all over the Angels, the team that had waited long enough. I watch the first two games of the World Series from Atlanta, where I�m isolated from my wife and kitties on business. I�m alone in my hotel room when the teams are introduced at Angels Stadium. The Angels come out to Norman Greenbaum�s �Spirit In The Sky�. Four months earlier, our cat Casey � the cat Hozzie was succeeding as Bernie�s companion � died and I took to playing this song as a way of remembering him. Now the Angels were. The Angels were, to my cat-missing mind, Casey�s team (Casey was angelic in life, only more so afterwards). Now it wouldn�t merely be nice if the Angels could win the World Series. Now it would be imperative. It was all the Angels vs. one Giant the first couple of games. The one Giant, Bonds, held his own (technically he had help), but this was a team effort for my favorite American League team ever. They split two. I flew home for Game Three. Mrs. Fafif had raided the Pathmark stuffed animal department. Greeting me in the living room when I arrived home were five rally monkeys. Not officially licensed merchandise, but just as motivational. Bought with love and World Series fever. (No ThunderStix, however.) The monkeys surrounded our TV for the duration. So did we. Too bad the Angels fell behind 3-2. Exciting Series. No ratings. Nobody I knew was watching. Angels? Giants? Who cared? My, I said, what you�re missing. You�re missing, in Game Six, a comeback almost (almost) as dramatic as anything we saw in 1986. Dusty Baker tells Russ Ortiz � not to be confused with Ramon Ortiz, though I constantly did � to keep the ball when he takes him out in the seventh with an enormous lead and my finely tuned Angel senses told me we (we!) were coming back. And so we did. Scott Spiezio with the big hit, back when I didn�t know how much I would hate Scott Spiezio come 2006. The Angels weren�t dead. The Orange County version of me, whoever he was, wasn�t dead. He had hope. I rooted for the Angels for the cats, for the monkeys, for the missus and for that Southern California version of me who I really wanted to get something out of his unrewarded life. And he got it. Rookie John Lackey starts. Troy Percival finishes. The Angels are champs. I may never have been happier from any October that didn�t involve Mets triumph. I loved the MFY elimination aspect of it � oh, how beautiful that they were taken out so early � but my Angels transcended mere anti-rooting. I didn�t fall for the �95 Mariners or the �97 Indians for winning MFY ALDSes. This felt singular. This was my American League team. I ordered Mrs. Fafif a World Champions shirt. She even wore it several times. I never really cared on a going basis after that. I said I did, but I didn�t. When we didn�t get my longtime Expos crush Vladimir Guerrero, I was glad they did, but it didn�t move the needle all that much. I didn�t mind that the Red Sox beat them in 2004 because I wanted the Red Sox to finally get what the Angels had. I didn�t mind when the White Sox beat them in 2005 for the same reason. Yet though I rooted hard for those teams to win their moments, I never felt those clubs were my Red Sox or my White Sox. The 2002 Angels, however, remain my Angels. Attrition and transformation eventually did its thing. Individual 2002 Angels took wing and landed elsewhere. Down the road one of them, that unhittable kid K-Rod, landed here. I cringed because I knew he would have his problems and I didn�t want to be disgusted by him the way I've been by every closer who came after Randy Myers. I wanted to remember October 2002. I looked up after K-Rod left, then Lackey and Figgins, and not so suddenly there were no more 2002 Angels on the Angels. They were just another American League team. Schoeneweis didn�t exactly work out here, either. Especially when they played the Mets. I felt that way in 2008 as Willie Randolph was called to Omar Minaya�s room; �I know it�s late, but I gotta talk to ya about somethin� before ya turn in, know what I mean, Willie?� I felt that way in 2005 as Marlon Anderson chugged home and Cliff Floyd blasted his way home an inning later. Most importantly, I felt that way in 2003, when my residual joy over October 2002 dried up the following June as baby Jose Reyes and boring Steve Trachsel gave the Angels what-for in Anaheim. I was so, so down on the Mets in 2003 and I had been so, so up on the Angels in 2002, yet they were just another Met opponent I wanted the Mets to beat. That I found reassuring. Last time I noticed anything about the Angels, Kendry Morales was injuring himself at home plate without encountering the other team�s catcher. Gads, that was stupid. He�s not back. Whoever�s there, however, is fully accounted for by the dependable Adam Rubin; click here for real preview information. Pitching matchups: Tonight (when I�ll be dodging thunderbolts on the Pepsi Porch and/or seeking Caesars shelter with Mrs. Fafif), Capuano vs. Pi�eiro in a battle of pitchers whose names end in �o�. Pi�eiro was � malapropism alert! � one of many who singlehandedly cost us the 2007 division title with his annoying, what do you call it...oh yeah, pitching. Pi�eiro beat us a couple of times as a Cardinal and it always felt like the end of the world. In �07 it was. We beat him, too, but who remembers stuff that detracts from a dependable narrative? He�s not that great right now. Capuano has been phenomenal. But that�s what makes it a horse race or, perhaps, a ballgame. Tomorrow, Pelfrey vs. Haren in a battle of a really, really good pitcher vs. Mike Pelfrey. Haren�s WHIP this year is 0.98, which sources tell me is outstanding. Yet he�s only 6-4. The Angels are only 33-37 (yet just 3 games out in the A.L. West). In his last three losses, the LAAs have scored only one run for him each time. (OMG, it�s like I just did research for this.) Sunday, Niese vs. Chatwood in a battle of young guns. Niese isn�t really that young anymore (the 48-year-old says of the 25-year-old); he just seems really young because a) he pitched in three different seasons when he was officially considered a rookie and as you may have heard 1,327 times since he was called up, Niese was born the day the Mets won their last World Series, and that couldn�t have been all that long ago (could it?). Niese, BTW, turned 16 the day the Angels won their last World Series. I wonder if the Angel announcers will mention that. As for Chatwood, he�s like 14, which is my default age for any young adult who looks too young to be an adult (�Josh Thole is like 14.�). He�s actually 21, the second-youngest player to have played in the American League this year The youngest is Jose Iglesias of the Red Sox, born January 6, 1990. I guess it should floor me that somebody born in 1990 is a major leaguer. It doesn�t. Time marches on, the fucker. Now that I�m looking it up, I see there have been four National Leaguers born in the 1990s this year, including one, Julio Teheran, who pitched twice for the Braves (fuck them) in May, who was born the day the Giants won their second Super Bowl. (I don�t know if he came out wide right.) Perhaps if Julio Teheran changes sports, that will become a Niese-like saturation fact. Also, Teheran was born in Colombia, not Iran. Go figure. As for Chatwood, he�s been getting his ass kicked lately, not by older kids but by the Royals. They knocked him out in the fourth inning in last start. Kansas City�s Eric Hosmer is the third-youngest American League player of 2011; Hozzie is short for Hosmer. Ruben Tejada is the sixth-youngest National Leaguer. Batting statistics for Angels starters: Pi�eiro: .105/.162/.142 (1 stolen base; if he gets on, Caps will pick him off) Haren: .226/.249/.331 (2 homers; Pelfrey will give up his third) Chatwood: Never Batted in the big leagues. I�ll be damned if he�s gonna get his first hit against us. The designated hitter of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is Bobby Abreu. Ex-Phillie. Ex-MFY. BOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Useless motherfucker this weekend, we hope. Vernon Wells is expensive. Torii Hunter�s always gotten on my nerves for some reason. The Angels carry three catchers. Seems like they always have. Howie Kendrick may be the last Angel I feel any affinity for, but not that much. Jered Weaver is having a banner season, but won�t face us. I hated his brother and will continue to as the need arises. Jered Weaver is in a SoBe commercial in which cool kids recognize him. I doubt the SoBe demographic is that attuned to Jered Weaver. Fuck Jeff Weaver for 2006. Fuck David Eckstein for 2006. And Spiezio. They lost their Angel wings when they became a pain in our playoff ass. Fuck Joel Pi�eiro for 2007. Fuck Yadier Molina. Fuck Chipper. And Fredi Gonzalez. Wow, do I hate him. Mike Scioscia, as long as we�re in that realm, manages the Angels. Strangely I went the entire 2002 postseason without once associating Scioscia with the failures of 1988 (or as Scioscia would have called them, the successes of 1988). I can�t look at Kirk Gibson without getting riled up, however. Maybe Scioscia carries three catchers because he was a catcher. Ex-Mets who have their wings: Hisanori Takahashi. I thought I�d miss him. I don�t. Maybe last night I should have. Scott Kazmir is at liberty. The Angels had a reliever up for a while named Francisco Rodriguez � another Francisco Rodriguez. History did not repeat itself. Ex-Angels who line our skies: Terry Collins, a-hole manager from 1997 to 1999, now a sure, steady Leader of Men. I saw the lineup last night, with Hairston in center, and thought �I trust Terry.� Didn�t see that coming. And Hairston delivered. We have the original Francisco Rodriguez. I cringed last night, oh boy. Also, we have Angel Pagan, but he�s a current Angel. The Mets and Angels first played in any form on April 5, 1968. The Mets were going to open the season in San Francisco, so they scheduled some exhibitions out west. The two expansion cousins drew 5,057 fans to then Anaheim Stadium. It was the day after Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot. I wouldn�t have been rushing to an exhibition baseball game. Arte Moreno has better PR than any owner in baseball though that one World Series was won under Disney Inc. Still, you gotta love stories like this one bmfc1 turned us onto recently, in which some dude winds up by accident in the owner�s box at Angels Stadium and instead of making like the Mets and tossing him, handcuffed, into a holding cell and charging a convenience fee on top of it, they treat him like an honored guest. And instead of casting a shadow of gloom by telling a famous reporter from a famous magazine how much his team sucks, Moreno seems to enjoy what he owns and hasn�t managed to put his ownership in jeopardy. One of those who works the owner�s suite is a man whose last name is Beverage. And that is what our cat Hozzie, now nine, is named for: Hosmer Mountain Beverages of Willimantic, Conn. Hozzie, however, isn�t much of an Angels or beverage fan. He likes naps.

Marty Noble: totally fucking high. Citi Field a fine setting for Jeter's 3,000th Yankees captain's moment fits in well with Subway Series lore NEW YORK -- Advocates of Interleague competition, and even those who don't favor midseason integration of the leagues, may find this possibility intriguing enough to cross their fingers and hope it happens: Derek Jeter taking his three-grand step on the lawn at Citi Field. It would be the next-best thing to his reaching 3,000 hits at his own ballpark (unless the sadists among Yankees supporters prefer Jeter's coronation occur at Fenway Park to put some stink in New England's summer.) But if it comes to pass that Jeter's calf heals and his assignment to the disabled list ends in time for him to play in the second half of this year's Subway Series on July 1-3, then by all means, let him milestone it at the Big Citi. The Mets have endured New York's other team celebrating a World Series on their turf -- albeit different turf -- as well as assorted Interleague, Interborough Indignities. This wouldn't be so bad because of the identity of the man involved. Jeter is a well-respected player, an icon on the other side of town and, begrudgingly, perhaps in Queens, too. Moreover, he would be making history -- good, positive history. If the schedule denies Yankee Stadium the opportunity to stage the event, then there is no better venue for this city to celebrate the Captain than the Citi. Even with how well the Mets are playing recently, Jeter's 3,000th could be the hit of the summer at Citi. In another 50 years, when the next documentary about the Mets' home is produced and momentous occasions are recalled, Jeter's hit would be part of it, along with footage of Paul McCartney's concert, a World Series or three, the elimination of the Mo-Zone, perhaps a Papal visit, a few soccer games, David Wright Day, concerts by the next rock phenomenon, the retirement of No. 17 for Keith Hernandez, Piano Man playing the anthem, Mike Pelfrey's home run, Jose Reyes Night, Dillon Gee's three 20-win seasons and a brief mention of the absence of a no-hitter in Mets history. Jeter's hit will be a big deal, of course, no matter where it happens. He'll be the 28th to reach 3,000, the first to do so as an exclusively New York player. The Citi ought to embrace the moment. No need to be parochial on that night, should it arrive while the Yankees are in the third-base dugout. If there is one visiting player Citi Field ought to hail, it's Jeter, something of an estranged cousin. The only way he has hurt the Mets is play well, deliver critical hits and throw out too-cool Timo Perez at the plate in Game 1 of the 2000 World Series. That throw was remarkable -- merely perfect, and it goes mostly unnoticed because of Perez's world-class mindlessness. It was the type of play expected of Jeter. ***** The first time the Mets and Yankees played in a real game -- 14 years ago Thursday night -- the pregame moments were as memorable as the shutout by Dave Mlicki that followed. The part of New York that gathered at the old Yankee Stadium took its cue from the old Miller Lite commercials -- Tastes great ... Less filling ... Tastes great ... Less filling ... The Bleacher Creatures initiated their chant, "Let's go Yankees," with slightly elongated words. And the surprisingly many Mets fans in the bleachers responded with the traditional, monosyllabic and choppy "Let's go Mets." The rest of the ballpark caught on, making the House That Ruth Built a house divided. Those were moments that should have been captured for a documentary on tolerance. Each side deferred to the other -- "Let's go Yankees" ... "Let's go Mets" ... "Let's go Yankees" ... "Let's go Mets." And a game of chants evolved. In the 86 games New York's teams have played since (including the five games in the 2000 World Series), nothing so spontaneous, polite and simple, so friendly and so cool has happened. It was pure rooting. No sarcasm or hatred. If Yankee Stadium and its Creatures could accommodate Mets partisans then -- the Yankees were defending World Series champions at the time, and the Mets were just emerging from the Dark Ages -- Citi Field certainly can find a way to salute Jeter, even if his 3,000th hit doesn't happen during the Interleague series. If Jeter comes to plate in the series, the Citi ought to stand, applaud, cheer and force the Captain to step out of the box to acknowledge the reception. Then root for Gee, Dickey, Pelfrey, Niese and the rest of them to hold Jeter hitless.

Hairston 2.5 Reyes 2.0 Beltran 2.0 Bay 1.0 Turner 0.5 Acosta 0.5 Byrdak 0.5 Isringhausen 0.5 Beato 0.5

Fewer than 200 away... METS ALL-TIME HIT LEADERS Through 6/16/2011 1. Ed Kranepool 1,418 2. JOSE REYES 1,220 3. Cleon Jones 1,188 4. DAVID WRIGHT 1,182

Realign the fucking Braves to another fucking planet.

Gwreck wrote: G-Fafif wrote: Just goes to show you how far Interleague has fallen, or how it never really got going. It was supposed to be a big deal when it came along (when it had a June component and a late August component). Now, throughout the current Mets road trip, when they run commercials to get out to Citi Field for the next homestand, they don't even bother mentioning the opponents. No "come see the Angels and A's who only show up once in a great while!" If anything, it's probably a liability, or no more appealing than "come see the Diamondbacks and Padres!" The Mets' commercials aren't exactly the last word on this. Interleague play still results in attendance increases across MLB. Some of that is attributable to a few particularly high-drawing road teams (Yankees and Red Sox) but the novelty clearly hasn't worn off at the box office generally. I'm mostly thinking about the Mets here. But my cursory glances at attendance figures over the years tell me that if you factor out MFYs and Red Sox and the occasional extraordinary draw (McGwire and Sosa going into AL parks at the height of their mass, for example), these are not treated as anything more than three more games on the schedule by most teams or fans. And I guess the question becomes is the disruption in the flow of the season and the loss of games to more traditional or relevant rivals worth the novelty and whatever boost a possible Red Sox/MFY or other extraordinary visit gains the average club? (Acknowledging the intracity rivalries are going to be a big deal.)

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Here's how the last five years might have played out under the different proposed scenarios. (Not accounting, of course, for the fact that the won-lost records would have been different with a different schedule.) 2007 NATIONAL LEAGUE 1. Phillies (89) 1. Cubs (85) 1. Diamondbacks (90) W1. Rockies (90) {W2. Padres (89)} Gads, the Mets found every way possible to not make the playoffs in 2007, including hypothetically. I understood this rationally since there was a one-game playoff and Mets weren't in it, but seeing it again here...gads.

metsmarathon wrote: the current schedule is a joke. especially the interleague blocks. why the hell should those games be confined to special chunks of the season? Just goes to show you how far Interleague has fallen, or how it never really got going. It was supposed to be a big deal when it came along (when it had a June component and a late August component). Now, throughout the current Mets road trip, when they run commercials to get out to Citi Field for the next homestand, they don't even bother mentioning the opponents. No "come see the Angels and A's who only show up once in a great while!" If anything, it's probably a liability, or no more appealing than "come see the Diamondbacks and Padres!"

Gee 3.0 Carrasco 1.5 Parnell 1.5 Rodriguez 1.5 Pagan 1.0 Reyes 1.0 Bay 0.5

METS ALL-TIME HIT LEADERS Through 6/15/2011 1. Ed Kranepool 1,418 2. JOSE REYES 1,217 3. Cleon Jones 1,188 4. DAVID WRIGHT 1,182

seawolf17 wrote: Holy hell, people. NOBODY IS EFFING TRADING JOSE REYES. Okay? Whew! That's a relief.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Ike's the one who pisses me off. WTF are you doing 1) Getting hurt waiting for a popup to come out of the sky Tough sky.

Don't trade the most dynamic, most exciting, perhaps best player in baseball. Ah, what kind of idiot organization would do that?

If you're in the neighborhood of Tappan Thursday night, Howard Megdal and I will be reading from Dana's work. Dana had scheduled the appearance well in advance and Howard, who lives in Rockland, thought it would be the right thing to do to honor it and him. I'm happy (in context) to help out. Details here.

And "Hello Donn" day (or dayy).